Sri Lanka seeks to ID sources for Channel 4 film

New York, March 5, 2013--The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry says
it wants to identify sources who provided information to the UK-based
broadcaster Channel 4 for a new documentary alleging that government forces
committed war crimes during the country's long civil conflict, The Divaina, aSinhala-language daily, reported today. In response, the producer issued
a statement saying that no "resident anywhere in Sri Lanka helped us with this
film."

The Channel 4 documentary, "No War Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka," was released last
week in Geneva to coincide with a U.N. Human Rights Council discussion on Sri
Lanka. The film depicts the Sri Lankan army's involvement in a summary execution
and torture. Callum Macrae, producer of the new documentary, also said in the
statement that "no one was paid for any evidence or interviews."

The Defense Ministry has a long history of threatening,
intimidating, and harassing those who challenge government actions, CPJ research
shows. An English translation of The
Divaina piece referred to anyone assisting Channel 4 as having "turned
their back to the motherland."

"We deplore the Defense Ministry's attempt to stifle free
speech," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "Sri Lankans have a right to
examine the country's human rights record without fear of being denounced as
unpatriotic."

Channel 4 also exposed evidence of Sri Lankan war-time
atrocities in a 2011 report. The government has denied any allegations of war
crimes and has claimed that material used by Channel 4 was not authentic, local
reports said.

Sri Lanka remains a highly restrictive and dangerous nation
for the press. In July 2012, the Ministry of Media and Information blocked
efforts to introduce freedom
of information legislation before parliament, saying national security
would be threatened if citizens were given access to public documents.